View/Open

Date

Author

Metadata

Abstract

Performance measurement and management have been evolving at state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) in recent years, and a variety of performance data is being utilized in different ways to guide decision-making processes. However, health considerations beyond air quality and safety are not yet being incorporated into performance management programs at state DOTs. Concurrently, Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) and other public health tools have seen increasing use among Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) and their stakeholders through collaboration with public health professionals. With the 2012 reauthorization of the surface transportation bill - Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century (MAP-21) - state DOTs and MPOs have the opportunity to consider health proactively in transportation decision making to address the environmental sustainability requirements of MAP-21. This study investigates the possibility for integration between transportation performance measurement and management and the HIA approach, identifying and explaining the linkages between the two previously isolated processes. The study draws from best practices in performance measurement/management at state DOTs and various examples of health-related activities among MPOs and other planning to inform a suggested approach for incorporating health considerations and metrics in transportation decision making. The suggested approach recognizes common goals of health and transportation agencies, which are well-aligned with national objectives, and emphasizes the role of multidisciplinary interagency collaboration and partnership. This approach is intended to be a resource for state DOTs and MPOs that are interested in extending their performance measurement/management activities to formally include health considerations, as it can ease many of the implementation issues currently faced when considering broader health impacts of transportation.